so Jem, what is it with the Drums on Milliontown?

Gerdi · April 22, 2009, 04:30:48 PM

well i'm sure this has been discussed to death here or elsewhere, but nonetheless i'm just gonna ask again about something that catched my eyes (or rather my ears) on my favourite heavy-on-widdelywiddely-synths-record:

have the drums on milliontown been a) overdubbed, b) triggered, or c) both?

the thing regarding a) is, there are parts that are pretty hard to play as an only two-armed and two-legged (and mono-brained) human being like TBE is... don't get me wrong, i'm not underestimating that man's skills by no means, but you can't tell me he did it all at the same time ^^

further (talking about b), the drums don't sound all to naturally to me... i could be mistaken, but i'm pretty sure that there has been some triggering while recording or sound replacement afterwards...
not that it doesn't sound good... i absolutely LOVE the sound of those drums and the playing as well...

and... well... c)... what can i say... i'm pretty sure it's both ;-)

so please jem (or anyone else, but preferably the master himself of course

), could you enlighten me a bit on this particular topic?
thanks in advance!

p.s.: did i mention that i freakin' love this album to death?

XeRocks81 · April 22, 2009, 05:58:55 PM

Someone else (hopefully Jem himself) coud give you a better answer but I think I remember reading that before Andy ever played anything, the entire album had drums that Jem had created using samples and performing the parts on a keyboard for example. Then Andy recorded drums, and Jem ended not using that much of it on the finished product, but I could be wrong.

Bokkie · April 22, 2009, 11:26:37 PM

Indeed i remember, i think it was from the video's that Andy doubled a jungle like beat somewhere. But i can't remember were.

Pedro · April 22, 2009, 11:55:42 PM

Quote from: "Bokkie"Indeed I remember, I think it was from the videos that Andy doubled a jungle like beat somewhere. But I can't remember where.

Are you thinking of the "Here is the News" cover? Where Andy submitted two drum takes, one "normal" and one more outrageous, so Jem combined them?

Bokkie · April 23, 2009, 10:34:00 AM

Could be, I saw it on the dvd. But i'm sure it was something with a jungle like beat.

Fogeyspasm · April 23, 2009, 11:55:47 AM

Here is the news does have a great, non original, trippy drum beat around 3/4 of the way through the track. Love it!

Jem · April 24, 2009, 10:01:46 PM

Milliontown was largely finished by the time the other members of the band appeared (Frost was originally designed to be a JG solo project) so in total truth, the majority of the drums were programmed by me. Thomas Waber at Inside Out hated the drums so Andy overdubbed a whole bunch of stuff in order to appease "the boss". It delayed the release of the album by about 3 months just to get it done and to give the impression that Frost v1 was "a band".

As a result, the drums on Milliontown are a giant, over the top drum fest combo of machines and humans. It works on some tracks and on others, I do cringe a bit it must be said. :lol:

EIMA on the other hand is entirely TBE so my conscience is clear on that album.

RWA · April 25, 2009, 08:56:58 AM

I was under the assumption the entire album was done with a Roland CR-78.

Pedro · April 25, 2009, 09:49:44 AM

"What is it with the drums....?"

....I think there's a bit of keyboard in there....

johninblack · April 25, 2009, 11:40:19 AM

Quote from: "Pedro""What is it with the drums....?"

....I think there's a bit of keyboard in there....

And some of that Pro Tools trickery and mysticism.

Pedro · April 25, 2009, 11:50:27 AM

Quote from: "johninblack"
Quote from: "Pedro""What is it with the drums....?"

....I think there's a bit of keyboard in there....
And some of that Pro Tools trickery and mysticism.

Thanks for clearing that up, John. I knew I could hear some Notchers and Bead Rollers in the mix!

johninblack · April 25, 2009, 11:55:36 AM

Quote from: "Pedro"
Quote from: "johninblack"
Quote from: "Pedro""What is it with the drums....?"

....I think there's a bit of keyboard in there....
And some of that Pro Tools trickery and mysticism.
Thanks for clearing that up, John. I knew I could hear some Notchers and Bead Rollers in the mix!

I'm told if you listen very carefully there is a steam hammer in there somewhere. What a resourceful chap Jem is.

SerFox · April 25, 2009, 11:59:23 AM

QuoteEIMA on the other hand is entirely TBE so my conscience is clear on that album.

I must say, Andy does a very convincing impression of a 808.

Mouse · April 25, 2009, 08:42:11 PM

Quote from: "SerFox"
QuoteEIMA on the other hand is entirely TBE so my conscience is clear on that album.

I must say, Andy does a very convincing impression of a 808.

We don't call him a drumbot for nothing.

Gerdi · April 26, 2009, 10:18:53 AM

whoops.... haven't been here since my original post...

anyway, thanks for clearing this up, Jem

i always admire musicians who interact with their fans via a forum or something like that, like you do! makes us feel very close to you, which is great!
you, as well as mr. edwards, did a great job on the drums(-synths), regarding that you're more of a keyboard player than a drummer ^^

and thanks to everyone else for giving me a bunch of good laughs reading this thread